Written questions by Botterill.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to help support farming businesses in West Yorkshire.

This Government wants to improve profitability for farmers, including for those in West Yorkshire, to make their businesses viable for the future. That is why we were pleased to announce £5 billion for the farming budget over 2024/25 and 2025/26. The farming budget will be £2.4 billion in 2025/26. This will include the largest ever budget directed at sustainable food production and nature’s recovery in our country’s history: £1.8 billion for environmental land management schemes to boost Britain’s food security and accelerate the transition to a more resilient and sustainable farming sector.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help farmers recruit people on Seasonal Worker visas.

We know how important securing the right workforce is to the agri-food chain, for both skilled (such as butchers and vets) and temporary (such as seasonal horticulture harvesting) jobs. The Government has confirmed the Seasonal Worker visa route for 2025, with a total of 43,000 Seasonal Worker visas available for horticulture and 2,000 for poultry. At the NFU conference, the Government announced a five-year extension to the Seasonal Worker visa route, until the end of 2030, giving farms a pipeline of workers and certainty to grow their businesses. Annual quota reviews will ensure we strike the right balance – supporting farms while gradually transitioning away from seasonal migrant labour. This will help secure the labour and skills needed to bring high quality British produce, such as strawberries, rhubarb and daffodils to market.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to increase the accountability of water company executives for water service failures.

The Water (Special Measures) Act will deliver on the Government’s commitment to put water companies under tough special measures, by strengthening regulation as a first legislative step towards improving the sector. The Act will:Strengthen regulation to ensure water bosses face personal criminal liability for lawbreaking.Give the water regulator new powers to ban the payment of bonuses if environmental standards are not met.Introduce new powers to bring automatic and severe fines.Require water companies to install real-time monitors at every sewage outlet with data independently scrutinised by the water regulators.Give Ofwat the power to set rules to increase customer representation in decision-making to hold companies to account. Following public consultation, the Government confirmed on 17 December 2024 the introduction of new and increased statutory payment rates, which will ensure that customers get at least double the previous amounts or more when water service standards are not met. These reforms underscore this Government’s commitment to hold water companies to account for poor performance and to stand up for consumers who receive compromised water services. Water customers around the country will benefit from significantly higher payments to compensate them for water company service failures.